The London Classic Car Show

Fantastic is the only word I can use. I really think we made an impression on the crowds of people that both passed and came up to our stand. Saturday was the best day as it seemed to be the day for ‘real’ enthusiasts
rather than Sunday which although good was a bit of a family day with a lot more ‘tyre kickers’. We met up in the Grove Car Park at about 3.30pm or so and at 4.15pm moved up to the ramp to go in. We were asked to wait for a few minutes as a hearse had broken down inside and was blocking everything. And we waited…we moved over to a ‘lay-by’ for the time being and took these little snap shots

And we waited a bit more…..until the clouds came over and it was just about to rain on three very shiny and polished Cappuccinos. 6.15pm or so and we were on the move. Into our hall and right next to the Range Rover Register. Right on the corner were everybody could see us! Rather than just piling in we stopped and had a think. You could here the cogs going round and round!! Eventually Alex, Ian and Sue agreed on one particular layout and I did exactly as I was told! 🙂

The Layout

Thanks must go to The Range Rover Register for being very helpful and lending us some of their equipment to spruce up our stand. Cheers Guys!!

I’ve got to admit now that I was very nervous. Not only had it been a stressful week, but I was worried about how people would take us being at a Classic Car show. In my mind the Cappuccino IS or will be a Classic Car of the future, mainly due to its limited numbers and the fact that it is no longer being made. Another point was the fact it was a Japanese manufacturer, people can be very blinkered sometimes and presume that only European countries produced classic cars. Though we were there to show them different.

Sell those Capps!

We could have sold a dozen Cappuccinos over that weekend, with offers even being made on our cars on display!  You could tell peoples interest just by the sheer number of times they popped back to the stand, or went away and came back with a friend. Some people just stopped dead as they rounded the corner and stared before coming over for a look and a chat. After a while a few people were bold enough to ask if they could sit in the car, not the sort of thing that goes on at a club stand but what the hell! I let a few people have a sit in the car and not one got out without a little
smile. Even the 6’6″ America guy, who couldn’t believe he could get in, and to prove a point I popped up the rear window to show that his head would fit in
with the roof up as well! And there’s a story…..

Over the weekend I must have shown a hundred or so people the incredible disappearing rear window trick. Some people asked why there were three different models (Ian had a Targa top, Alex a T-Bar and mine was in full roof down mode) Again and again I had to explain about the roof and then show them how it popped down and up. Everybody else took great pleasure in sitting back while I did my ‘salesman’ bit for the Cappuccino, all the while I could see them sniggering out of the corner of my eye. Thanks!!

An excellent time was had by all, we met half a dozen or so SCORE members who came to see us (Cheers!), had great fun at the show, AND even convinced a few people to go searching for their own Cappuccino!